Words Of Wisdom.

Former Big Leaguer Jim Wohlford.

Took the words right out of his mouth

September 21, 2003|By Devin Rose.

"Ninety percent of this game is half-mental."

Former major league outfielder Jim Wohlford made this crack in the '70s while with the Kansas City Royals. Before you sports fans insist that those words belong to the ever-quotable Yogi Berra, think again: Sports Illustrated senior writer John Garrity, himself a Kansas City native, set the record straight in a recent issue.

Q telephoned Wohlford, who said, "Yep, I'm the guy who said it. I even got a $50 check from Reader's Digest for its Notable Quotables."

Wohlford, now a financial consultant in Visalia, Calif., couldn't remember the exact details of his utterance but recalled: "We were on a charter flight back from somewhere. It was late, we were drinking a bit, and I said that. Some reporter pulled out his notebook and said, `What did you just say?'"

Those were the days, Wohlford said--when baseball was about camaraderie, fun and love of the game. "It wasn't about multiyear contracts and money then. You didn't know whether you'd be playing the next year, so you enjoyed it when you were there."